Digital Payment Trends- Global Perspective
It’s intriguing to watch out how the fast-expanding payment markets are breaking all the barriers to the cashless economy. With more and more super apps entering the market like WeChat, Apple Pay, and more, digital payments have become the epicenter of day-to-day activities in most economies. This especially holds true for the Asian markets where the trend is catching up fast. According to an analysis by PwC and Strategy &, the global cashless payment volumes are set to increase by more than 80% from 2020 to 2025.
The rising significance of digital payment infrastructure in developing Asian regions can be attributed to the government’s willingness to boost inclusive economies and foster rapid growth. Endeavors are being made to bring millions of unbanked to the mainstream payment structure by providing them access to goods and services without cash. The demand for touch-free payment modes during Covid-19 has further skewed the payment ecosystems towards digital payment structures.
Needleless to say, factors like affordability, convenience, traceability, and security have made digital payment systems the nucleus of transformation in the financial services industry. The mushrooming of domestic payment methods like TROY in Turkey, Mir in Russia, and BHIM in India are clear indicators of the growing popularity of digital payments.
Tracking India’s Journey to Building a Digital Financial Infrastructure
India is at the forefront of a digital payment revolution. Looking at where India stands today, the country has come a long way. Before 2010, digital transactions witnessed a single-digit growth which rose to a noticeable growth of 28% during 2010–2016. The real spike was seen in 2016-17 when it reached 56% following the demonization drive by the Indian Government.
The COVID-19 also accentuated the shift towards a digital payment structure with numerous first-time users and merchants adopting digital payments such as scan & pay, tap to pay, paying using VPA methods over other traditional cash and card payment modes.
According to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the UPI, an instant real time payments system, recorded 4.56 billion transactions in December 2021, which is more than 100% growth compared to the previous year that recorded 2.23 bn in Dec 2020.
India’s journey of building a robust digital financial infrastructure is coming true via collaboration between the government, the regulator, banks, and fintech companies. The banks & non-banking financial companies are now providing integrated solutions and additional adjacent services like lending, wealth management, micro-insurance, etc that are better-customized to enhance customer experience.
The adoption of smart technologies by banks has brought down operational expenses, thereby turning their cost zones into revenue zones and winning customer acquisition. With multiple easy-to-use, secure, and instant payment options, the merchants and consumers too are benefiting from these digital payment methods.
When talking of technology convergence and faster transactions, the role of 5G can hardly be undermined. Facilitating lightning-fast downloads and connecting millions of IoT devices (smartphones, smartwatches, and other AI-powered devices), 5G is expected to improve the quality of contactless payment services and broaden its reach multifold.
With amplified transaction speed and always-on-connection, 5G is likely to influence more consumers to re-assess their payment behaviors and choices. Experts believe that this technological breakthrough will increase the consumers’ dependency on tools& devices that support digital payments.
Mindgate – Pioneering Digital Payment Innovations
Digitalization and automation are the new normal of today’s business world. Mindgate, a global leader in digital payment technology capitalizes the technological innovations to offer new generation payment gateways and mobile payment solutions that surpass the set standards. Pursuing newer ideas and consistently pushing our boundaries, we at Mindgate co-create solutions like real-time payment, Request to Payment, QR code payments, and more by leveraging technologies like Machine learning, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and more. Assimilating technology with our offerings we ensure our clients gain a competitive edge by not just keeping up, but also staying ahead of the change.